Rate The Last Movie You Saw

I tried to watch this not so long ago after convincing myself I loved it as a kid. It's quite a boring film really although some of the visuals are striking. The hard men on roller-skates thing really made me chuckle though. The music is not bad either.

Fiend Without a Face - If one didn't know any better one could swear that either Marshall Thompson or Peter Graves starred in most of the low budget late 50's scifi/horror films. Thompson is the lead in this independently made British production playing Air Force Major Jeff Cummings. He's in charge of an experimental program at an installation in Manitoba, Canada trying to boost long-range radar using atomic power.

Local folks in the rural area are dying. Rather violently. They hear the sound of heavy footsteps and see the surrounding ground being disturbed. Then they scream and clutch at their throat. Because of suspicions regarding the installation, the local authorities are reluctant to perform autopsies but are eventually persuaded. The growing list of casualties have all had their brains and spinal columns sucked out. For some unspecified reason Cummings grows suspicious of retired British scientist Professor R. E. Walgate (Kynaston Reeves) who is currently working on another book on telekinesis. His secretary/transcriber Barbara Griselle (Kim Parker) is also the sister of the first victim and does double duty as Cummings requisite love interest.

There's a slow moving first and second act featuring Cummings' time killing "investigation" which leads up to a comparatively interesting third act. I've read numerous reviews describing the special effects as "impressive" and "surprisingly good". I suppose given the time period this holds some element of truth and I can even acknowledge how some viewers found it shocking and according to British censors of the time "out of bounds". You'll have to judge for yourself once the invisible invaders become visible. You kind of have to admire the FX department's inventiveness. Patience, in this case, is rewarded (for the most part).

65/100

Fantastic movie

Saltburn - (2023)

Barry Keoghan is a very brave, confident young man. WOW

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There has been an awekening.... have you felt it?

Re-watch of an excellent true-life movie. Sydney Sweeney so good.

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I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.

Sydney Sweeney is always good

She was great on The White Lotus

Umpteenth Rewatch...The ultimate date movie is still as fresh and watchable as it was back in 1990. Of course, after all these years and rewatches, you do begin notice things like how Julia Roberts' Vivian is really spoiled little child who demands constant attention and she falls for Gere's Richard Lewis, a sexist jerk who just can't devote every minute of his life to her. But the chemistry is there and makes you forget all of that. You also get to watch Jason Alexander's single opportunity to play an assh*le as Edward's lawyer, Phillip Stuckey. Roberts received her second consecutive Oscar nomination for her performance here. Roberts and Gere were reunited in 1994 for Runaway Bride but it just wasn't the same.

3rd Rewatch...Loving this third remake of the classic more and more with each viewing and mainly for one reason...Bradley Cooper. His work as a director, screenwriter, and actor is on the money here and managed to make a movie star out of Lady GaGa while he was doing it.

Loved this movie...Keoghan was robbed of an Oscar nomination.

Yes.

In The Handmaid’s Tale was where I first saw her. In a terrifying rôle.

A Monkey in Winter (1962)

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[ J ] - [ S ] - [ F ]

August 6, 2024
TRAP (M. Night Shyamalan / 2024)

August 12, 2024 ($5 MARCUS MYSTERY MOVIE)
MY PENGUIN FRIEND (David Schurmann / 2024)

August 13, 2024
BORDERLANDS (Eli Roth / 2024)

Here are my three most recent theatrical viewing experiences in the past two weeks.

M. Night Shyamalan's Trap is rather fascinating, for it takes quite an interesting risk in attempting to make a serial killer (played by Josh Hartnett) into a sympathetic character. I guess sympathy might be a bit much, but I do think the audience is very much involved and engaged in the character's plight. There are a few movies that do this effectively, ranging from Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) to Mary Harron's American Psycho (2000), but as a rule it's a very risky strategy, and not every filmmaker is on par with Michael Powell. M. Night Shyamalan certainly isn't, but as a filmmaker he's just unique and idiosyncratic enough to pull it off. The scenario of this movie, and the whole structure of the plot, is something I have admittedly not seen executed before in quite the same way. A father takes his daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a concert by her favorite pop singer as a reward for good grades, and begins to notice a strong police presence built up within the venue. He discovers that the police and the FBI (led by Hayley Mills, in an interesting bit of casting) have discovered that a notorious serial killer known as "The Butcher" is going to be in attendance at the concert, and they're reasonably sure they're going to catch him. Problem is, this loving father is "The Butcher"! I have to say that, even though Shyamalan has kind of a mixed track record, his films are always unique, and however wonky the tonality of his writing can sometimes be, the storylines are almost never predictable, and they never go quite where you're expecting them to go. For this reason alone, I heartily recommend Trap. (BTW, the only time I ever saw a Shyamalan film that even remotely reminded me of another film, it was 2016's Split, which sort of reminded me of David Cronenberg's The Brood from 1979, one of my all-time favorites. I won't elaborate here why it did, I'll just leave that to everyone else's speculation.)

For the first time ever, I attended a Marcus Mystery Movie this past Monday for $5.00. I was just sort of curious as to which up-and-coming film would be showing. Much to my surprise, it was a Brazilian family film called My Penguin Friend, starring Jean Reno as a fisherman who nurses an oil-covered penguin back to health and adopts it. The penguin is named Dindim by the fisherman's granddaughter. This movie is actually based on a true story. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie, and that penguin is pretty darn cute! I would definitely recommend this for those with a sweet tooth for family fare.

In a way, Borderlands is exactly the type of movie that really starts to wear on me late in the summer. But while I had no real expectations for anything substantial from yet another sci-fi/action bonanza with smart-alecky dialogue based on a video game, and even though I still think it's far from a cinematic masterpiece, it's definitely a few notches above average. I must admit that when I discovered that Eli Roth was the director, my doubts were somewhat alleviated, my being a fan of much of his past work. (Although I think last year's Thanksgiving was simply okay.) I found the cast to be pretty impressive, as well. Let's face it, nothing Cate Blanchett's involved in can be all bad, and she is definitely in fine form here as the bounty hunter Lilith, sort of a distaff version of the sort of irreverent badass that Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford and Kurt Russell used to be able to play in their sleep. But quite honestly, I found Jack Black as the voice of the robot Claptrap to be rather annoying after a while. What can I say? Borderlands is ultimately a mixed bag.

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"Well, it's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid" - Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, High Plains Drifter (1973)

"I'll let you be in my dream if I can be in yours" - Bob Dylan, Talkin' World War III Blues (1963)

Mississippi Mermaid (1969)

Killer of Sheep (1977)
10
It's low budget, but it's a masterpiece.
Beautifully shot, beautifully put together, beautifully crafted, beautiful soundtrack beautifully used. Thought provoking.
Arguably let down a lit but in places with slightly amateur acting, but that's also part of it's charm. It's the greatest african american movie ever made. Possibly the greatest low budget talking movie ever made. It's one of the great films.

Monolith - (2022)

The ending ruined it for me, otherwise a really interesting movie.

Lady Snowblood 2: Love Song of Vengeance -

While not the classic its predecessor is, this is a worthy sequel that is just as deserving of being in the Criterion collection. It satisfies the "culturally significant" requirement, if anything, for how well it captures the corruption and sharp economic division Japan endured in the wake of the Russo-Japanese War. What's more, it places Lady Snowblood (Kaji) right where she needs to be: in the middle of a struggle between a government desiring total control and an activist, Ransui Tokunaga (Itami), who stands for the opposite, i.e. total anarchy. Does the movie favor one side over another? Yes, but you still feel the same weight Snowblood has on her shoulders regarding who to trust. If this movie sounds more politically charged than the first one, that's because it is. It still has its same appeals; namely, vibrant and beautiful sets and action that doesn't hold back on the (bright) bloody payoff.

Kaji is incredibly good as Snowblood and she makes her scenes count, but I agree with criticisms that there's not enough of them. She seems like more of a supporting player than a lead, in other words. Also, if you're not an expert on the Russo-Japanese War, it wouldn't hurt to read up on it before pushing play. While the movie provides decent background on it and made me grasp the stakes, since I went in cold, I still felt like a bit of an outsider. Other than that, it works as well as an action movie as it does a political thriller for its boldness and for how iconic Kaji makes her character. It's just a shame that this the last time we see her.

Godzilla Minus One - Up to a certain point I knew I was watching a movie where they were actually doing right by Godzilla. But I have to admit to still feeling an electric jolt when they eventually cued up Akira Ifukube's iconic suite III from the 1954 original. This wasn't the leviathan taking a back seat to Hollywood glitz and a bloated plot and certainly not the cartoonish camp of the 60's, 70's and 80's. And I get that those were meant to be fun. But this struck the right balance of gravitas without forgetting the sheer novelty of a 164 foot tall atomic-fire breathing lizard. I haven't seen Shin Godzilla so I don't know how exactly they handled their depiction but this one puts the Hollywood versions to shame. They're also able to capitalize on the concept of it as a force of nature by keeping the whole movie steeped in this realism. I've heard there will be a sequel and I can only hope that it's the same team handling that.

85/100

Ida (2013) -------8/10